In the field of floor coverings or “floorings”, various methods are well known for laying floor and wall coverings at outside corner portions. However, those laying methods suffer from certain problems and drawbacks.
With reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, a usually used first laying method implements the following steps. Along the join line, between the floor (1C) and the walls (1A, 1B), a cradle (1) is placed that is a shaped section member of quarter-circle section and that is fastened by adhesive bonding or the like, via its longitudinal end portions, to the facing faces of the floor surface (1C) and of the wall surfaces (1A, 1B). Then the floor covering (R) is brought to the corner portion while turning it up against the corresponding vertical surfaces (1A, 1B) of the walls. To achieve that, it is necessary first to make a V-shaped cut (2) in the covering (R), with the tip of the V-shape corresponding to the low point of the angle between the two walls (1A, 1B). A separate V-shaped piece (3) is then laid over the outside corner and welded to the floor covering (R) at the V-shaped cut (2). The separate piece (3) is welded in two stages, which increases the laying time. That hot welding, with a welding bead (4) being deposited, starts from the low outside corner point and is performed along the two slanting lines of the V-shape. The corner (1D) being formed in two successive vertical planes (1A, 1B) can give rise to a drum-skin effect and to a risk of tearing if the welding is not performed properly.
One of the difficulties encountered remains controlling the quality of the welding, since such quality control can be visual only. In practice, it has been observed that it suffices for there to be a tiny incipient fracture for sealing not to be guaranteed.
Another problem lies in the fact that the welding operation at corners, using a wheel or a nozzle, can damage the covering (R) at the corner, e.g. by causing burns on the covering (R) with deformations, such as swellings or the like, making it look dirty and not very neat.
In addition, such outside corners have sharp edges that are not good at withstanding impacts with cleaning equipment, such impacts regularly causing the covering to tear and ultimately causing sealing to be lost.
In addition, on heterogeneous floorings with fiberglass mesh or scrim, it is necessary to chip away or notch the mesh on the back of the V-shaped separate piece (3) of covering so that it fits over the edge of the outside corner. In addition to the fact that that step increases the laying time, it can also cause the mesh to break as the separate piece (3) is being folded.
With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, another solution for skirting turn-ups consists in forming strips that are folded at 90° and that extend outwards over a width of about 10 cm on the floor (1C), and then in welding the strip as laid flat to the flooring. For outside corners, a shell (5) is previously formed from a strip of floor covering by folding it, and then said shell (5) is sealed on its back with appropriate resin. Said shell (5) is then welded to the flooring and to the two strips extending on either side of the outside corner.
This type of laying at outside corners suffers from the drawback of requiring a large number of welds, which increase the laying time. In addition, it requires a shell (5) to be made first, such a shell generally being formed at the worksite, and therefore also increasing the laying time. Furthermore, such an outside corner has sharp edges that are not good at withstanding impacts with cleaning equipment, such impacts regularly causing the covering to tear and sealing to be lost.